My Journey in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Great classes this week, especially today. Today was one of the first days were I noticed things are starting to sink in. I also found that although I'm still gassing out because my cardio is poop. I was however not getting light headed or feeling like I needed to sit and breath after a good spar session.

Things are looking good and at least it feels like some things are starting to sink in finally.

Just goes to show that practice makes perfect, or at least as close to perfect as I can get for now.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

What a great class today. Was all about the judo throw when starting in stand up and two different ways to get out of an triangle choke. The two we learned today was when you are in a bad situation and your sparring partner has the hooks in deep and you learn to the side and pull the lock off. As for the triangle choke it seem so easy once we were shown it. I can't believe I could not figure it out befor. What a great simple move and now I can see how it becomes so handy because it is so simple.

As for the Judo throw or Hip toss that move is so, so much harder than it looks. The goal is to use leverage and technique but for some reason I kept trying to muscle it and thus kept doing it wrong. Every part of this move is important and is definitily something I will be practicing more in the future. See the video below on how to perform a Judo throw.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

I don't know much about nutrition in regards to eating after a bjj workout. But after last training day I felt weak and a little light headed. So this time I made sure to drink more water throughout the day and to bring an apple with me to eat after I was done training. In my opinion it made a difference. As soon as I was done the class / training I ate it. I felt WAY better soon after.

Now don't get me wrong I still drink the protein while driving home to eat. But I feel the apple was a nice quick healthy way to recover. Could it be the natural fibers and sugar? Or is it just a placebo effect? Or do I simply need better cardio?

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Good class today. At the end for the open spar session I got really light headed but it was amazing. I was first sparring against a guy who was easily 80 pounds more than myself.

The main lesson we practiced today was the rear naked choke and of course how to defend against it.

Main take home message I remembered from today while defending, is while your opponent is trying to choke you and pulls begins to pull you back. That is when you roll to the side with his arm underneath your armpit. You do not want to roll to the side with the arm on top.

Next you slowly worm / shrimp your body out

You can push the leg away as well to help open up space if needed and safe.

Below is a nice video I found on them rehearsing the moves and defense. Watch how he always rolls to one side

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

I started BJJ 2 weeks ago and today I have decided to begin to write about my experiences and journey with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I currently go twice a week for hour and half, as that is all the time I have with life, work, school family, etc.

I really enjoyed all the classes, and even though many people have trained for years I can tell their a culture were they help each other. I have forgot most of what I've been taught but I do know we have been shown breaking guard, passing guard, north / south defense and gi lapel choke I try to use but cant pull off in the spar session at the end. haha!

Video of BJJ North / South Defence -

BJJ Lapel Choke from Mount -

I hope these videos help spark your memory as much as they do for me. Visualization and practice is key, I think.